If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

One can know quite a bit about him without having read his books, and one can read his books and still not know what kind of man he was. The open letters that he signed and the organizations that he joined gave aid and comfort to people who sought to kill me, my fellow Soldiers and, when you come right down to it, Vidal himself (Communist countries tend to be virulently anti-gay, and al Qaeda makes Chik-Fil-A look like ACTUP). He routinely lied about the motives of people who disagreed with him, and advanced the agendas of monstrous despots. He demeaned and insulted those who worked to protect him from the tyrants that he endorsed, using all of his clever wit in the service of evil. Admire his writing and his wit, if you like, but kindly refrain from belittling those who hold him in lower esteem.

One can know quite a bit about him without having read his books, and one can read his books and still not know what kind of man he was. The open letters that he signed and the organizations that he joined gave aid and comfort to people who sought to kill me, my fellow Soldiers and, when you come right down to it, Vidal himself (Communist countries tend to be virulently anti-gay, and al Qaeda makes Chik-Fil-A look like ACTUP). He routinely lied about the motives of people who disagreed with him, and advanced the agendas of monstrous despots. He demeaned and insulted those who worked to protect him from the tyrants that he endorsed, using all of his clever wit in the service of evil. Admire his writing and his wit, if you like, but kindly refrain from belittling those who hold him in lower esteem.

Thank you, Ody, for these remarks. I found him to be an odious human who looked down on the ordinary people. He was an aristocrat in is own mind. There's something tedious about folks who have the need to feel superior. America supposedly is a classless society, at least officially. We don't have dukes and earls, etc, and everyone has the opportunity to advance based on their merits.

‎" To the world you are just one more person, but to a rescued pet, you are the world.""A Nation of Sheep Breeds a Government of Wolves!"

With a pretentious name like his, he was destined to become an insufferable liberal prick. I wish for him what he wished on others. I don't wish him an eternity in Hell, but he didn't believe in it anyway, so he probably is immune to God's laws.

Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil.C. S. LewisDo not ever say that the desire to "do good" by force is a good motive. Neither power-lust nor stupidity are good motives. (Are you listening Barry)?:mad:Ayn Rand

Thank you, Ody, for these remarks. I found him to be an odious human who looked down on the ordinary people. He was an aristocrat in is own mind. There's something tedious about folks who have the need to feel superior. America supposedly is a classless society, at least officially. We don't have dukes and earls, etc, and everyone has the opportunity to advance based on their merits.

My pleasure. Vidal was simply one of a long line of intellectuals who became famous for their political positions, rather than their accomplishments in their areas of expertise. Being a noxious leftist made him more famous than being a great writer would have, and he milked it, even when it meant enabling those who would be the first to have him lined up and shot.

I'm sorry, I must have not qualified my post with the disclaimer you require; "IMO."

I guess the sound of his name isn't enough justification for you. It's much like your bigotry toward Southerners strikes a nerve with me.

Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil.C. S. LewisDo not ever say that the desire to "do good" by force is a good motive. Neither power-lust nor stupidity are good motives. (Are you listening Barry)?:mad:Ayn Rand

His name doesn't sound pretentious to me; perhaps the problem is that it doesn't have "Billy Bob" anywhere in it.

Dang strait!

Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil.C. S. LewisDo not ever say that the desire to "do good" by force is a good motive. Neither power-lust nor stupidity are good motives. (Are you listening Barry)?:mad:Ayn Rand